Cuba Libre: Cuba Says It Has More Oil Than the U.S.

Cuba says it is sitting on more than 20 billion barrels of offshore oil in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s more than double what the U.S. figures Cuba has, and would represent more oil than the U.S. has in reserve, according to the BBC. If true—and if the reserves can be recovered—that would turn Cuba from a big oil importer into one of the world’s 20 biggest exporters.

It wouldn’t much help presidential candidates’ plans to reduce U.S. dependence on Mid-East oil, though. Due to the existing embargo, U.S. firms will be shut out of any Cuban oil exploration projects, and any future exports. In the meantime, Spain’s Repsol and Brazil’s Petrobras are leading the charge to tap the deep-water finds.

Cuba’s state oil company says it came up with the number by extrapolating from U.S. surveys of existing Gulf of Mexico fields, and adding Cuba’s insider knowledge of its own waters. Cubapetroleo says exploratory wells should be drilled by the middle of 2009, and production could come on line within three years.

Irony of ironies—in a communist economy accustomed to chronic shortages of everything from meat to electric power, Cuba’s running up against another, market-driven shortage this time: There aren’t enough deep-water rigs available to start serious oil production any sooner.

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Environmental Capital provides daily news and analysis of the shifting energy and environmental landscape. The Wall Street Journal’s Keith Johnson is the lead writer. Environmental Capital is led by Journal energy reporter Russell Gold, and includes contributions from other writers at the Journal, WSJ.com, and Dow Jones Newswires. Write us at environmentalcapital@wsj.com.